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bkshopr,
Wow.
You have a deep reservoir of knowledge!  Thank you for sharing it.
It’s interesting to me that you have mentioned, several times, the improved construction qualites of many homes being built today.
Many will argue the overall quality of production homes is poor,  but it was always my contention that the corners, courtyards, etc. that you describe do have an influence on today’s pricing.
In fact, I have a little theory that for the lower-end of the new home market in the future, many of these sophisticated design features will have to be eliminated.
Does that make sense?
 

bkshopr,
Since many of the better builders participated in Covenant Hills, what do you think the difference was?
I considered buying there, but I never really had a great feeling for the community as a whole. 
The biggest issue for me was the lack of a good clubhouse, especially the lack of a gym.
It also does not feel very special when you drive-up to the gate.  It just doesn’t feel like you’ve "arrived" anywhere.
Having said that, I do think some of the custom lots are quite nice.

I really find these threads discussing home design to be very informative.  It would be nice if you could access all of them when the time came for you to start home shopping.  Since bkshpr initiates a lot of these design threads, I was wondering if it would be possible to access all his posts/comments history by clicking on his handle.  Craigslist has that functionality.  This is not a complaint, by the way.  Love this site.  More than work, apparently.

For me, the biggest issue in Ladera is the giant electric towers and lines that run through the community.  You can actually hear them humming at night. . . I’m not into EMF scares but that just freaks me out a little.

TIC spent a lot of money to create the feeling "I have arrived". Streets and scenery are carefully orchestrated like in a movie set.  The "think tank" process is conceived by its in house planners all with Harvard pedigree.

IC,
Oops, that was my first negative too.

I think I figured out a workaround.  You should be able to Search for all posts containing the person’s handle, e.g. "bkshopr" and all the posts referencing that handle should be brought up.  Not exactly foolproof though, as it will probably not bring up everything, e.g. posts that misspell the handle.

Bk, you make an interesting point regarding arcitecture being pure and true to form. This is also an important element in interior design. That is, the interior should enhance and compliment the exterior.
I know many of you dislike the Spanishy, Tuscanesque exteriors so prevalent in Irvine. But these styles actually blend in and fit the environment here much better than say a Cape Cod style, which looks great in New England, but rather out of place in our desert environs. Form follows function.

bkshopr,
Defininately.
Just driving past the outer-most entry to Orchard Hills makes me want to live there!
It looks great.

Well design communities could be compared to movies. The really sophisticated one wins the Oscar. Ladera Ranch IMO wins the best picture MTV award.

Hahaha….just an MTV award?....=)

bkshopr,
What do you think of the aesthetic quality of the highrises going up?
Is it just me, or did the Marquee turn out ugly?
I look at it every day, and try to imagine what could be done to make it more appealing.
Probably nothing at this point.
 

bk,
Any idea on the pending Stonegate community? Such as the style of homes, etc.?

bkshopr, nice work.  it seems that the "in" style right now are the cape cod / craftsman / beach bungalow type homes with the wood (or faux-wood) siding.  in the last 10 years a lot of the new home communities in oc have been in this style (from sailhouse bungalows in corona del mar to ladera ranch to columbus square/grove to pacifica san juan).  i’ve been told that the faux-wood composite materials are actually better than real wood because they last longer and are water and heat (fire) resistant.  i have no idea if that’s true or not.  i will say that i think the craftsman style looks right at home in certain coastal places like laguna beach, and i’d much prefer it over a turtle ridge tuscan type home if i were living within view of the water.  if i were living inland, not so much.  but that is just a matter of persaonal preference.

 
The Marquee was designed by a Vancouver architect. Bosa Development was quite impressed with the architect’s Gold Nugget Award winning 7 years ago and the PR generated quite a bit of interest to seek out this Vancouver architect’s service. The design is a metaphor of a ship. The style is exactly the same as the ones built along the Vancouver coast with incredible ocean view. I believe architecture must compliment the surroundings and meshes organically with the site.
This building would be fabulous with the green glass reflecting the color of the ocean but the site is next to the 405. Due to the context another style could blends better with the environment?

Do you like any others in their proposed/existing environs?

bk,
Your deep knowledge is obvious with planning and marketing aspects, so I take it you work within those areas?  I would have to also guess that you are pretty much involved with the day-to-day aspects within those areas, since your perspective from the broader level tend to be open to more scrutiny. 
In this particular topic you mention the use of in-house vs. consultants, and call the use of consultants "suicidal".  I think that is a grossly general statement, and many would even venture to say you’d be flat out wrong.  Executives try to balance out the two resources, because both offer their positives and negatives.  MVC certainly would have been idiotic to use exclusively consultants, but probably just as short-sighted to use exclusively in-house.  Perhaps the use of consultants in this particular case was suicidal, but that would only speak to the quality of the consultants, not the decision to use them.

I agree with you the balance is necessary. Relying totally on outside consultants is dangerous because loyalty is lie somewhere else. The conflict of interest derailed the entire project from reaching its full potential. There should have been an impartial group of architects (non participatory in designing products in Ladera) be the reviewer.  Having a team of in house knowledgeable managers whose credential in both MBA and planning or architecture should be the guiding force rather than letting William Hezmalhalch be at the helm.  The term suicidal might be a little harsh idiotic is a much better word.

I think a big part of the equation is the builders’ desire to "maximize" the floor plan.  They want the square footage and no. of bedroom wow factor.   I have been to so many homes where they try to put one too many bedrooms in (3 tiny rooms in the space for 2 regular rooms).  
There is also a need (like most thing) a person who just comes in and knock some common sense into the builders.  I would walk into a design where they have a huge closet and a tiny little bathroom or vice versa. . . sometimes the designs are just plain dumb. 
As for Ladera. . . come on, they’re soup makers for goodness sakes (j/k).  I do like chunky soup though.
Also what is up with the round-a-bouts in LR? What are we, in Paris? 

Those roundy things seem to flow well, even though everyone hates them.

Only problem is that people take them at like 45 mph.

My problem with Ladera is the density.  I went walking through some models at CH on Saturday and looking out the windows you could see 150 to 400 homes all stacked on top of each other (amount depending on which direction you were looking).  Yuck!  It’s one thing to know that you’re right next to your neighbor, but it’s another to have to see all that density.  It felt really oppressive.

As to the cement fiber material, I figured that was required by city/county for fire purposes - kind of like cement roof shingles. 

Power lines? Who cares about power lines when the traffic at Crown Valley can drive you insane.
bkshopr - Are you familar with the PCBC’s gold nugget award winner Sutter’s Mill designed by Bassenian/Lagoni? It is a very unique product and either you love it or hate it. Personally I like it but I would pick it up and move it to San Francisco. IRCC only one plan had a balcony connected to the living area for a bbq. All the others had balconies connected to bedrooms. You were expected to bbq on your front porch. WTF?